Chinese Group to Buy Wilson Golf Owner Amer Sports

Finnish sporting goods conglomerate Amer Sports – owner of Wilson Sporting Goods, among others – is in the process of being sold to a Chinese group led by athletic apparel giant ANTA Sports Products, LTD, for an estimated $5.2 billion.

ANTA announced its interest in acquiring Amer in September, and in early December, the Amer Sports Board of Directors unanimously agreed to recommend its shareholders accept ANTA’s offer, which represented a 39% premium over Amer’s early September stock price. Amer share prices jumped immediately after ANTA made its intentions known in September, nearly 20% in one day – the largest jump in its history.

In addition to ANTA, which is China’s largest athletic apparel manufacturer, the buying group also includes Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings and billionaire Chip Wilson, the founder of Lululemon Athletica.

Facts of the Deal

In a mailing to shareholders last month, Amer said the ANTA group plans to invest time and money to expand Amer’s businesses globally, especially in Asia. Amer will have access to ANTA’s distribution network, R&D resources, and manufacturing and sourcing capabilities.

Under the agreement, Amer will continue to operate as an independent entity with an independent Board of Directors. Current Amer leadership has been invited to stay on under the new ownership.

Along with Wilson Sporting Goods, Amer owns outdoor sports brands Louisville Slugger and DeMarini baseball bats, Atomic and Armada ski equipment, Salomon and Arc’teryx hiking and mountaineering gear, Mavic and ENVE cycling gear and Precor fitness equipment. Amer has owned Wilson Sporting Goods since the late 1980’s. Bloomberg reported in December that Amer made for an attractive target as the next two Olympic games will be coming to Asia (2020 Summer games in Tokyo, 2022 Winter games in Beijing).

ANTA was established in 1991, specializing in footwear, apparel, and accessories, and went public in 2007, with former Houston Rockets owner Leslie Lee Alexander as a key investor. Current and former NBA stars Klay Thompson, Gordon Hayward, Rajon Rondo, and Kevin Garnett are ANTA athletes, as is boxer Manny Pacquiao.

What Does This Mean For Wilson Golf?

In the short term, probably nothing. Wilson was able to sign Gary Woodland to a sponsorship deal after the agreement was announced, so clearly there’s no spending moratorium until the deal is finalized, and from all outward signs it has been business as usual in Chicago.

Wilson won’t be making any statements until the sale is finalized – which should be sometime in March – and the thinking here is Wilson Sporting Goods is a key component to the acquisition. Wilson is a strong player in baseball, basketball, and tennis – all global sports with tremendous market potential in China and the rest of Asia. The Asian golf market is huge, and market research shows China is a ripe and growing market for golf equipment. A report by the R&A last year indicates 32% of the world’s golf course projects are in Asia. Wilson Golf has not been active in the Asian market recently, but this sale could open up significant growth opportunities.

There aren’t any similarities between this deal and the recent TaylorMade sale by adidas to the capital group KPS. First off, adidas actively sought a buyer for TaylorMade, and KPS purchased only TaylorMade – there were no other major elements to the deal (the Adams and Ashworth brands were included in the sale, but by purchase time had been diminished to the point where the assets were little more than logos). In that case the capital group bought what amounted to an undervalued asset at a relative bargain. Depending on the group, the goal then would be to pretty up and P&L and Balance Sheet ASAP and then sell it off for a quick profit, or build up the asset over time, making money along the way before selling it at an even bigger profit.

In the case of Amer Sports, it wasn’t for sale. The ANTA group simply made the proverbial offer they couldn’t refuse and purchased the the whole thing lock, stock and barrel, at a premium price, adding a wide variety of equipment to its already strong portfolio of apparel, footwear and accessories. For those worried about lousy or low-quality Chinese manufacturing, that’s an outdated narrative, at best. It’s a fair bet that most of what Amer sells – including Wilson golf equipment (and nearly all golf equipment, for that matter) – is manufactured to some degree in China already.

So in the long term, the deal would appear to potentially be good news for Wilson Golf but, as is the case with global business, one never knows.

John Barba

John is an aging, yet avid golfer, writer, 5-point-something handicapper and golf reality show finalist. He’s a fan of Hogan, Jack and Arnie and still has an old set of MacGregor irons that get to see the course a couple times a year.
“The only thing a golfer needs is more daylight.” - BenHogan

31 Comments

Rob

Richard McKiernan

4 months ago

Wilson has had more wins on tour and the most famous golfers of all time have been asociated with them
Gene Sarazen Billy Casper Sir Nick Faldo Dave Marr Paul Lawrie plus many more
Hopefully they keep the name and hopefully the new owners accept this and put money into the brand
Wilson Staff are finally making sellable golf clubs
Good Golfing Richard in the UK

stephenf

4 months ago

I hope so too, but I mean…son of a _b–ch_, I was hoping to work back into competition after years of layoff with injuries, and before that a competitive run at +2 to +4 with almost exclusively Wilson Staff. I was so thrilled to see them come out with one excellent tournament-player model after another over the past few years, was hoping I’d jump back in with one of the updated versions, and now there’s both 1) the uncertainty of whether there will be continuity and support, and 2) the question of whether your dollars are going where you want them to go. Kind of smashing face on desk here with the news. Not saying I definitely wouldn’t go with Wilson — still leaning that way — but it does reopen a question I thought was all but closed. Dammit.

Johnny Cowboy

stephenf

4 months ago

“Tainted” to anybody who’s not willing to look at actual results and performance with their top-line clubs. The whole “but they sold in discount stores” narrative is 20-plus years old and really outdated at this point.

Joel

4 months ago

As long as they don’t do anything negative with Arc’teryx and Armada, then I’m neither here nor there. (Though, Wilson has been doing good work lately, and I hope they too can stay in the marketplace to drive competition)

Under the Roof

4 months ago

There’s no question that Wilson has made a concerted effort to improve their overall product level over the last several years. As with any M&A transaction, the answer to how well the company will do long term; will come in the next couple of years as we see/ don’t see current Wilson management and design talent either stay with the company or leave.

Anthony Ingoglia

4 months ago

Chinese manufacturers aren’t stupid. They have been making excellent quality and also cheap stuff for America, contracted by outside China corporations for a long time. Poor quality products won’t sell to people willing to pay for quality. They will make what the consumer demands.

mackdaddy

Jim Lee

4 months ago

Seeing the many comments about Chinese products being made and bought. Just think about all the components that uses Chinese parts. Stripe away your coffee machines and TVs, you would see Chinese parts. Even Mercedes Benz uses Chinese parts. Why complaints about China when you are using Chinese goods at an affordable price?

steve

NH Golfer

4 months ago

Wilson Golf as a brand will continue to exist on the fringe but I would be looking over my shoulder, and be paranoid, if I was a Wilson Golf employee. These things rarely go on seamlessly. They probably have a year till the stuff hits the fan.

Simms

Paul Markowski

4 months ago

I agree, however almost all other equipment is produced in China it may be assembled elsewhere. A few years ago I wanted newer irons but wanted something made in North America, I wound up getting Callaway X18 only because they were at least assembled in Mexico.

HDTVMAN

4 months ago

An American company bought by a Finnish company being bought by a Chinese company. I worked for an electronics firm where the products were first made in America, then moved to Japan, then moved to Korea, then moved to China, then moved to countries all over Asia in order to build the product cheap. Now they break and you throw them in the trash…they are called Throw-Away TV’s! I’m sure you have several in your homes…and by the way, most are not made by the major brand stamped on the front, but somewhere in Asia and that name stamped on the TV means nothing anymore.

Will

4 months ago

Wilson produced many fine sets of blades for years (the Staff forged were excellent clubs); they seemed to be coming back in the last few. I’m curious if they will retain the current club designers, maintain the production standards, etc. or will the new owners just milk it dry & produce junk…

Seeing as how Wilson was already wholly owned by Amer, and it’s Amer that’s being sold, I’m not sure how – or if – changes on that level will affect Wilson Sporting Goods and Wilson Golf in the short term. Sometimes sales are good things, sometimes they’re bad things. Since this isn’t an investment group doing the buying but instead an actual sporting goods conglomerate looking to grow, I’m thinking it won’t be a bad thing. There’s always the chance ANTA spins off some of the Amer companies, but there’s no indication that is in their plans.

Ken

Scotty

4 months ago

Always found that to be an interesting juxtaposition. On one hand, the Chinese and many Asian countries are discouraged from playing golf (Seen as elitist and flaunting golf) yet they’re actively involved and building. Especially when there’s the Asian tour etc.

Regis

4 months ago

Although I understand the sentiment, I don’t see a bevy of American Corporations jumping into the Golf business. I belong to a club here in Myrtle Beach that is owned by a Chinese group that runs about 20 courses. They do a nice job. All the courses were previously privately owned. And trust me without the Chinese investing, most of them would have long been converted to shopping centers. It was the same thing as when groups including the PGA of America we’re cancelling tournaments at Trump properties. If you’re invested in the long term availability of golf don’t bite the hand that’s one of only a few left that’s willing to feed you

Walter

4 months ago

Don’t think for one minute that this is just some group of Chinese business men buying these businesses. Everything in China is tied back to the Gov of China with very short strings. They want control of everything we like to buy.
Who’s next GE/Westinghouse/Whirlpool/HP?